The YoungsIn 1856 Edward B. Young bought 10 acres of land on “The Hill”, five of the 10 acres were set aside to build his family home.
Ann Young was the wife of Edward Young and the first owner of Fendall Hall. Mr. Young, his wife and two sons moved to Eufaula in the mid 1830’s. He and his brother, William, moved from New York City to Twiggs County, Georgia in the 1820’s. They first operated a mercantile store for a New York supplier but eventually went into business for themselves. A decision was made to close the store in Georgia, the town was dying because the railroad located elsewhere, so Edward Young decided to relocate to Eufaula, then Irwinton, Alabama because of its location near the river. Mr. Young was successful with his store in Georgia and came to Eufaula as one of the “first moneyed men” to arrive. One of the first things he did, after settling his family in a home on Randolph Avenue, was open a store. Over the years he established a bank and served as President, owned a sawmill, founded an insurance company, became a cotton broker, built the first covered bridge over the Chattahoochee River to Georgetown and was a commission merchant. After the family settled in Eufaula the family grew to include seven more children, for a total of nine. Their first daughter died while Mrs. Young was visiting her family in Warrenton, Georgia and is buried there. Their second son, Henry Augustus Young, was killed in the Civil War. In 1860 Fendall Hall was completed and the family moved in. Mr. and Mrs. Young continued to live in the home until their deaths. She died in 1876 and he followed soon after in 1879. Mr. Young operated his businesses until shortly before his death. |
The DentsWhen Fendall Hall was completed Mr. Young had the deed made to his wife. The Young’s daughter Anna Beall Young Dent became the second owner of Fendall Hall. She and her husband, Capt. S. H. Dent purchased the home from her father’s estate in 1880 for $4,000. In the mid 1880’s the Dents began a major redecoration of the home. Although Anna Dent acquired the home from her parent’s estate, the furnishings of the home were divided among the eight children. Therefore, the house was practically bare of furniture. The Young’s had originally furnished the home in the Empire style. The Dent’s made a trip to New York and purchased Eastlake style furniture, the popular style of the period, to refurbish the house. Today the house is decorated primarily in the Eastlake style. Some Empire pieces are used also. S.H. Dent (1833-1917) was born in Charles County, Maryland and moved to Eufaula in December of 1854 at age twenty-one to be a school teacher, but he had his eye on becoming a lawyer. After teaching for one year, he studied law, was admitted to the Bar, and soon opened his own office. Courtship. Stouten and Annabelle first met through Mr. Young at the Union Female College, of which Mr. Young was the president of the Board of Trustees. After completing his law degree, he and Annabelle began to court. On June 5, 1860, Stouten and Annabelle married at Fendall Hall. |
The Hurts
One of the Dent daughters, Louise Dent Hurt, inherited the home from her mother. The house was always known by the last name of the owner in residence. Because the home was owned by women, this meant the name changed with each generation: Young House, Young-Dent House, and then Young-Dent-Hurt House. Mrs. Hurt decided the house needed a shorter and less complicated name and dubbed it "Fendall Hall" after her grandmother, Ann Fendall Beall Young.
One of Mrs. Hurt’s daughters, Mary Maude McCullohs and her two sons, inherited the home from her. Fendall Hall was always owned by women until it was purchased by the state in 1973. |